Toby Axelrod
By Toby Axelrod
-
Fast Forward Swiss Parliament Votes To Halt Funds To Anti-Semitic Groups
BERLIN (JTA) — Switzerland’s lower house of parliament voted to halt public funding for organizations that promote racism, anti-Semitism and hate. Submitted by Christian Imark of the right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party, the bill passed Wednesday by a vote of 111 to 78, with all center-right mainstream parties in support. Voting against the measure were the Social Democratic, Green and…
-
Fast Forward Anti-Semitic Incidents Rise 16% In Berlin
BERLIN (JTA) – With anti-Semitic incidents reportedly on the rise in Berlin, Jewish leaders in the German capital are renewing their call for an official federal commissioner to deal with the problem. The Berlin-based Research and Information Office on Anti-Semitism, founded in 2015, reported Monday that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany’s capital has risen by 16 percent in 2016 over the previous…
-
Fast Forward Brothers Who Survived Auschwitz Barred From Joining Suit Against Nazi Medic
BERLIN (JTA) — A judge in Germany has barred two Jewish brothers from Boulder, Colorado, from being co-plaintiffs in an accessory to murder trial against 96-year-old former Auschwitz SS medic Hubert Zafke. Chief Judge Klaus Kabisch in the Neubrandenburg state court explained on Tuesday that brothers Walter and William Plywaski – themselves Auschwitz survivors – could not join the trial because…
-
Fast Forward Germany Right Wing Party Set To Oust Lawmaker Who Denigrated Berlin Holocaust Memorial
BERLIN (JTA) — Germany’s rising right-wing populist party voted to begin proceedings to oust a prominent member for calling Berlin’s Holocaust memorial a “monument of shame.” Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the former East German state of Thuringia aroused ire nationwide with remarks in January denigrating the memorial and suggesting that…
-
Fast Forward Angela Merkel Scraps Cabinet Meeting With Israel Over Settlements
BERLIN (JTA) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has canceled a planned top-level joint Cabinet meeting with Israeli leaders, reportedly out of frustration over Israel’s controversial new settlements law. The binational consultation was set for May 10 in Jerusalem. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Merkel’s office offered the September national elections in Germany as the reason for the cancellation, but the chancellor appears…
-
Fast Forward German Jews Welcome Election of Steinmeier as Ceremonial President
BERLIN (JTA) – The Central Council of Jews in Germany welcomed the election of Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Germany’s next president, calling him among the “most upright and staunch advocates of our democratic values and our constitution,” as well as a strong supporter of Israel. Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic Party who stepped down from his position…
-
Fast Forward German Textbook Publisher Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Illustration
BERLIN (JTA) — A schoolbook publisher has apologized for using an anti-Semitic illustration in a text about the euro crisis. The book will not be removed from German schools’ bookshelves, however. Based in Berlin, the Klett-Verlag publisher told Vice magazine blogger Philipp Frohn that the “regrettable mistake” would be corrected in a future edition, which will not come…
-
Fast Forward German Extremists Busted for Plot To Attack Jews and Refugees
BERLIN (JTA) — Police have raided the homes of right-wing extremists across Germany on suspicion of planning attacks on Jews, refugees and police. Police searched 12 apartments and other sites across the country early on Wednesday, gathering information for an investigation. Seven suspects come from the states of Baden-Württemberg and Baden. Some 200 police officers from the states of…
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Opinion Trump’s Israel tariffs are a BDS dream come true — can Netanyahu make him rethink them?
- 3
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
- 4
Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
In Case You Missed It
-
BINTEL BRIEF Is it OK to ask your Seder host if you can bring a guest?
-
Fast Forward Trump picks Yehuda Kaploun, a friend and Miami businessman, as antisemitism envoy
-
Fast Forward Trump is about to talk to Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy. Here’s what you need to know.
-
Opinion Trump wants to fight antisemitism. So why did he kill funding for my Holocaust translation project?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism